• Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    Dutch words in general are insane. My favorite is Schildpad=turtle. Which literally means “shield Toad”

    • beansbeansbeans@lemmy.world
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      25 minutes ago

      Dutch is so whimsical. I personally giggle at winkelwagen. Winkel = shop, wagen = cart. Also, love that they say helaas pindakaas, meaning “that’s too bad”, but if literally translated means “unfortunately, peanut butter.”

    • JASN_DE@lemmy.world
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      4 hours ago

      Exact same usage in German: Schildkröte.

      But its not like the English language doesn’t do the exact same thing.

      Most languages: Ananas

      English: pineapple

        • petersr@lemmy.world
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          49 minutes ago

          Jokes on you, in Danish it is “Skildpadde”. “Padde” is toad, sure, but “skild” doesn’t really make any sense!

          (Perhaps it is an ancient Danish word for shield (skjold), but no one would use it)

        • Shou@lemmy.world
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          3 hours ago

          Apple used to be the general word for fruit. Hence why so many languages call potatoes “earth apple” or oranges a form of “yellow apple” or “applesin”